What Wood Is Good Wood For Pellets?

Before you can even consider a business in making pellets you have got to source a suitable raw material. First you need to know what you market is. This could be fuel pellets, horse bedding or one of the more niche products like BBQ pellets or pellets to help produce compost. You then need to evaluate what raw materials you have available to you and if they are suitable for that market. For instance for the pellet fuel market you are generally going to need woods that produce low ash, and are not contaminated. You cannot process heavily treated or painted woods for fuel pellet due to the dangerous emissions they may generate. Also don't try and fool your customers as they will eventually find out and destroy your brand and reputation. For example there were examples of some companies putting paper and cardboard into their fuel pellets but selling them as a premium grade wood pellet. Using paper of cardboard is acceptable as a fuel pellet but you must make the customer aware of what they are really purchasing. Also heavily processed wood are not suitable for the pellet fuel market. These include MDF, chipboard and particle board to name a few. There are obviously lots of these materials in waste streams from demolition etc, however they will produce dangerous emissions when burnt. If you source of wood does produce high ash, you could consider making pellets for horse bedding. Many horse owners like how absorbent the pellets are, and the low dust stops the horses developing any breathing issues which can be case with straw bedding. What ever you market, to be profitable you need to have the market close to you to reduce expensive transportation costs. There are exceptions, if you have a wide range of hardwoods BBQ pellets is a very profitable business. The market is obviously seasonal and much smaller, but the profits on what you produce are very high. You would need mostly oak but also other woods like apple, cherry and alder to diversify your product range. The important point is to think beyond just the standard pellet fuel market.

 The Wood Pellet Production Guide © PelHeat Ltd - What Wood Is Good Wood For Pellets?